Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) contributed to the development of the thematic brief on climate change and health, “Protecting Health in a Warming World,” prepared by the Civil 7 (C7) Global Health Working Group.

C7 is one of the official engagement groups that provides policy recommendations to the G7. It serves as a platform that brings together the voices of civil society organizations from G7 countries and beyond, and communicates recommendations to G7 Summits and relevant ministerial meetings. HGPI has previously contributed to C7 activities by submitting inputs and endorsing health-related policy recommendations and nutrition-focused thematic briefs developed by the C7 Global Health Working Group. This thematic brief is one of several thematic policy documents developed under the same Working Group. Ahead of the 2026 G7 Summit, it calls on G7 countries to treat climate change as a health crisis and to advance climate and health policies in an integrated manner.

The brief highlights that climate change poses a serious risk to the health of people around the world, with increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events and expanding infectious disease risks causing significant harm to human lives and health. It frames addressing climate change as an imperative for protecting public health and strengthening health systems. The brief also emphasizes that the impacts of climate change are not distributed equally, and calls for equity to be placed at the center of climate and health policy design and implementation, with particular attention to vulnerable populations, including older adults.
The brief was developed based on inputs from members of the C7 Global Health Working Group.

■ Key Recommendations

The recommendations are structured around two pillars:

1. Strengthening the Integration of Climate and Health Policies
   
   • Position greenhouse gas emissions reductions as a core strategy for protecting and improving human health.
   • Utilize health impact assessments to make the health co-benefits of climate policies visible, and advance the integration of environmental and health impact assessments.
   • Promote the decarbonization of the health sector and health supply chains as part of a just and equitable transition, framing it as an opportunity to reduce costs for health systems.
   • Advance the integration of environmental, meteorological, and health data, and strengthen responses to climate-related health risks and climate-sensitive diseases—such as dengue, cholera, and malaria—through One Health approaches and early warning systems.
   • Reaffirm evidence-based decision-making as the foundation of public health and climate policy.
     
     
2. Adapting Health Systems and Ensuring Sustainable Financing
   
   • Place health system adaptation at the center of national climate policies to address the health impacts of climate change.
   • Ensure the continuity of essential health services—including primary health care, diagnostics, medicine supply, and sexual and reproductive health services—in the context of climate crises, disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and conflict.
   • Invest in climate-resilient health infrastructure, on-site renewable energy at health facilities, and climate-resilient diagnostic and treatment technologies.
   • Integrate climate-health literacy into health worker training, covering topics such as recognition and management of heat-related illness, patterns of climate-sensitive diseases, and disaster preparedness.
   • Expand mental health services to address anxiety, trauma, and long-term psychological stress associated with climate-related crises.
   • Scale up financing for climate adaptation in health systems, and direct investment toward sustainable and resilient health systems through climate budgets, carbon pricing revenues, the repurposing of fossil fuel subsidies, and innovative financing mechanisms.

■ HGPI’s Input

Several perspectives submitted by HGPI during the drafting process are reflected in the brief. Specifically, it incorporates HGPI’s input highlighting the vulnerability of older adults to heat stress, air pollution, and climate-related infectious diseases, and the compounded risks they face. HGPI also emphasized that linking the impacts of climate change across sectors to public health and health security is essential for shaping future environmental and public health policy.

HGPI’s perspective that decarbonizing health systems should be framed not merely as an emissions reduction obligation but as an opportunity to reduce costs for health systems were also reflected. Additional inputs incorporated into the brief include investing in on-site renewable energy at health facilities, strengthening climate-health literacy in health worker training, and redirecting fossil fuel subsidies toward climate-resilient infrastructure and health system investments.
These perspectives seek to highlight that climate change is not a challenge that lies outside the health sector, but one that is intrinsically linked to the sustainability and resilience of health systems.

HGPI will continue to contribute to strengthening global responses to health challenges, including those at the intersection of climate change and health, through participation in international policy dialogues such as C7 and through collaboration with global partners.

*The full text of the brief is available in the PDF below.